A large rectangular lake on the northern edge of Kaohsiung, ringed by an extraordinary collection of Taoist temples, shrines and giant deity figures. The signature view is the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas — a pair of seven-storey pagodas connected to the shore by zigzag bridges and entered through the carved mouths of a dragon and a tiger.
Walk clockwise around the pond and you also pass the Spring and Autumn Pavilions guarded by a man riding a giant dragon, the Northern Pavilion with its huge Xuantian Shangdi statue rising out of the lake, and the Confucius Temple, the largest in Taiwan. Each is photogenic enough to merit a stop. The whole circuit takes about two hours. Take metro Red Line to Ecological District, then walk five minutes north.